Wednesday morning June 22

Preparation

Opening response

Lord, open our lipsand our mouth will proclaim your praise.

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Sovereign God, creator of all,to you be glory and praise forever.You founded the earth in the beginningand the heavens are the work of your hands.In the fullness of time you made us in your image,and in these last days you have spoken to usin your Son Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh.As we rejoice in the gift of your presence among uslet the light of your love always shine in our hearts,your Spirit ever renew our livesand your praises ever be on our lips.Blessed be God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.Blessed be God forever.

Hymn

Beyond the Bounds of Time and Space

Charles Wesley

Beyond the bounds of time and space,Look forward to that heavenly place,The saints’ secure abode;On faith’s strong eagle pinions rise,And force your passage to the skies,And scale the mount of God.

Though suffering with our Master here,We shall before his face appear,And by his side sit down:To patient faith, the prize is sure,And all that to the end endure,The cross, shall wear the crown.

Confession of sin

When we cry out to the Lord in our distress,he will save us from our desperate circumstances.

God will bring us out of darknessand out of the shadow of death.

Lord, have mercy.Christ, have mercy.Lord, have mercy.

A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.

May the Father forgive usby the death of his Sonand strengthen usto live in the power of the Spiritall our days.Amen.

Let us thank the Lord for his faithful love,and his wondrous works for all people.

Let us offer thanksgiving sacrificesand declare what God has done in songs of joy.

cf Psalm 107

The Word of God

Psalm 119:105-128

Refrain:Act toward your servant according to your faithful love.

Your word is a lamp before my feet and a light for my journey.I have sworn, and I fully mean it: I will keep your righteous rules.I have been suffering so much— Lord, make me live again according to your promise.Please, Lord, accept my spontaneous gifts of praise. Teach me your rules!Though my life is constantly in danger, I won’t forget your Instruction.Though the wicked have set a trap for me, I won’t stray from your precepts.Your laws are my possession forever because they are my heart’s joy.I have decided to keep your statutes forever, every last one.

I hate fickle people, but I love your Instruction.You are my shelter and my shield— I wait for your promise.Get away from me, you evildoers; I want to guard my God’s commandments!Sustain me according to your word so I can live! Don’t let me be put to shame because of hope.Support me so I can be saved and so I can focus constantly on your statutes.You discard everyone who strays from your statutes because they are dishonest and false.You dispose of all the wicked people on earth like waste— that’s why I love your laws.My body shudders because I fear you; I’m in awe of your rules.

I’ve done what is just and right. Don’t just hand me over to my oppressors.Guarantee good things for your servant. Please don’t let the arrogant oppress me.My eyes are worn out looking for your saving help— looking for your word that will set things right.Act toward your servant according to your faithful love. Teach me your statutes!I’m your servant! Help me understand so I can know your laws.It is time for the Lord to do something! Your Instruction has been broken.But I love your commandments more than gold, even more than pure gold.That’s why I walk straight by every single one of your precepts. That’s why I hate every false path.

Glory to the Father and to the Sonand to the Holy Spirit;as it was in the beginning is nowand will be forever. Amen.

Psalm prayer

Old Testament readingJudges 15:1-16:3

Later on, at the time of the wheat harvest, Samson went to visit his wife, bringing along a young goat. He said, “Let me go into my wife’s bedroom.”

But her father wouldn’t allow him to go in. Her father said, “I was so sure that you had completely rejected her that I gave her in marriage to one of your companions. Don’t you think her younger sister is even better? Let her be your wife instead.”

Samson replied, “No one can blame me now for being ready to bring down trouble on the Philistines!”

Then Samson went and caught three hundred foxes. He took torches, turned the foxes tail to tail, and put a torch between each pair of tails. He lit the torches and released the foxes into the Philistines’ grain fields. So he burned the stacked grain, standing grain, vineyards, and olive orchards.

The Philistines inquired, “Who did this?”

So it was reported, “Samson the Timnite’s son-in-law did it, because his father-in-law gave his wife in marriage to one of his companions.” So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father to death.

Samson then responded to them, “If this is how you act, then I won’t stop until I get revenge on you!” He struck them hard, taking their legs right out from under them. Then he traveled down and stayed in a cave in the rock at Etam.

The Philistines marched up, made camp in Judah, and released their forces on Lehi. The people of Judah asked, “Why have you marched up against us?”

“We’ve marched up to take Samson prisoner,” they replied, “and to do to him just what he did to us.”

So three thousand people from Judah traveled down to the cave in the rock at Etam and said to Samson, “Don’t you realize that the Philistines rule over us? What have you done to us?”

But he told them, “I did to them just what they did to me.”

Then the people of Judah said to him, “We’ve come down to take you prisoner so we can turn you over to the Philistines.”

“We won’t,” they said to him. “We’ll only take you prisoner so we can turn you over to them. We won’t kill you.” Then they tied him up with two new ropes, and brought him up from the rock.

When Samson arrived at Lehi, the Philistines met him and came out shouting. The Lord’s spirit rushed over him, the ropes on his arms became like burned-up linen, and the ties melted right off his hands. He found a donkey’s fresh jawbone, picked it up, and used it to attack one thousand men. Samson said,

When he finished speaking, he tossed away the jawbone. So that place became known as Ramath-lehi.

Now Samson was very thirsty, so he called out to the Lord, “You are the one who allowed this great victory to be accomplished by your servant’s hands. Am I now going to die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” So God split open the hollow rock in Lehi, and water flowed out of it. When Samson drank, his energy returned and he was recharged. Thus that place is still called by the name En-hakkore in Lehi today.

Samson led Israel for twenty years during the time of the Philistines.

One day Samson traveled to Gaza. While there, he saw a prostitute and had sex with her. The word spread among the people of Gaza, “Samson has come here!” So they circled around and waited in ambush for him all night at the city gate. They kept quiet all night long, thinking, We’ll kill him at the first light in the morning. But Samson slept only half the night. He got up in the middle of the night, grabbed the doors of the city gate and the two gateposts, and pulled them up with the bar still across them. He put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of the hill that is beside Hebron.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament readingLuke 18:15-30

People were bringing babies to Jesus so that he would bless them. When the disciples saw this, they scolded them. Then Jesus called them to him and said, “Allow the children to come to me. Don’t forbid them, because God’s kingdom belongs to people like these children. I assure you that whoever doesn’t welcome God’s kingdom like a child will never enter it.”

A certain ruler asked Jesus, “Good Teacher, what must I do to obtain eternal life?”

Jesus replied, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except the one God. You know the commandments: Don’t commit adultery. Don’t murder. Don’t steal. Don’t give false testimony. Honor your father and mother.”

Then the ruler said, “I’ve kept all of these things since I was a boy.”

When Jesus heard this, he said, “There’s one more thing. Sell everything you own and distribute the money to the poor. Then you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me.” When he heard these words, the man became sad because he was extremely rich.

When Jesus saw this, he said, “It’s very hard for the wealthy to enter God’s kingdom! It’s easier for a camel to squeeze through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter God’s kingdom.”

Those who heard this said, “Then who can be saved?”

Jesus replied, “What is impossible for humans is possible for God.”

Peter said, “Look, we left everything we own and followed you.”

Jesus said to them, “I assure you that anyone who has left house, husband, wife, brothers, sisters, parents, or children because of God’s kingdom will receive many times more in this age and eternal life in the coming age.”

Silence may be kept.

Gospel canticleThe Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)

Refrain:Lord, because of your deep compassion, the dawn from heaven will break upon us.

Bless the Lord God of Israelbecause he has come to help and has delivered his people.He has raised up a mighty savior for us in his servant David’s house,just as he said through the mouths of his holy prophets long ago.He has brought salvation from our enemiesand from the power of all those who hate us.He has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors,and remembered his holy covenant,the solemn pledge he made to our ancestor Abraham.He has granted that we would be rescuedfrom the power of our enemiesso that we could serve him without fear,in holiness and righteousness in God’s eyes,for as long as we live.You, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High,for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way.You will tell his people how to be savedthrough the forgiveness of their sins.Because of our God’s deep compassion,the dawn from heaven will break upon us,to give light to those who are sitting in darknessand in the shadow of death,to guide us on the path of peace.”

Luke 1:68-79

Glory to the Father and to the Sonand to the Holy Spirit;as it was in the beginning is nowand will be forever. Amen.

Refrain:Lord, because of your deep compassion, the dawn from heaven will break upon us.

Brief silence.

The Apostle’s Creed

Let us unite in this historic confession of the Christian faith:

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,born of the Virgin Mary,suffered under Pontius Pilate,was crucified, died, and was buried;he descended to the dead.On the third day he rose again;he ascended into heaven,is seated at the right hand of the Father,and will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,the holy catholic church,the communion of saints,the forgiveness of sins,the resurrection of the body,and the life everlasting. Amen.

Prayers

Intercession and thanksgiving

Prayers are offeredfor the day and its tasksfor the world and its needsfor the Church and her life

Response

In faith we prayWe pray to you, our God.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

O God, the protector of all who trust in you,without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy:increase and multiply upon us your mercy;that with you as our ruler and guidewe may so pass through things temporalthat we lose not our hold on things eternal;grant this, heavenly Father,for our Lord Jesus Christ's sake,who is alive and reigns with you,in the unity of the Holy Spirit,one God, now and forever. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

As our Savior taught us, so we pray

Our Father in heaven,hallowed be your name,your kingdom come,your will be done,on earth as in heaven.Give us today our daily bread.Forgive us our sinsas we forgive those who sin against us.Lead us not into temptationbut deliver us from evil.For the kingdom, the power,and the glory are yoursnow and forever.Amen.

Conclusion

The Lord bless us, and preserve us from all evil, and keep us in eternal life.Amen.